Ohio: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

Ohio joined the anti-SLAPP states in 2025, becoming (by most counts) the
35th state to adopt one. Rather than write its own scheme, Ohio enacted the
Uniform Law Commission's Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA) at
Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2747.01 through 2747.06. A defendant sued over a
government-related communication or the exercise of speech, press,
assembly, petition, or association rights on a matter of public concern can
file a "motion for expedited relief" that automatically halts the case and,
if granted, ends it with prejudice and shifts fees.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Ohio's anti-SLAPP law is the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act,
codified at Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2747.01-.06. Governor Mike DeWine signed it as
Senate Bill 237 (135th General Assembly) on January 8, 2025, and it took
effect April 9, 2025. Before this, Ohio had no anti-SLAPP statute at all;
every section of the chapter still shows only its original April 9, 2025
enacted version, with no amendment since.

What speech or conduct is protected

The Act covers three categories: a communication made in a legislative,
executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding; a
communication on an issue under consideration or review in one of those
proceedings; and the exercise of the constitutional rights of free speech,
free press, assembly, petition, or association on a matter of public
concern. The legislature went further than simply immunizing liability: it
"intend[ed] to confer substantive immunity from suit" for these categories,
a stronger protection than an ordinary affirmative defense.

The motion for expedited relief

A defendant has 60 days after being served with the complaint (or a
cross-claim, counterclaim, or third-party claim asserting a covered cause of
action) to file the motion, though a court can extend that period for good
cause. Filing it automatically stays every other proceeding between the
moving and responding parties, including discovery and any pending hearing
or motion — not just discovery. The court must hold a hearing within 60 days
of the filing (or within 60 days of any court-ordered limited discovery) and
must rule within 60 days after the hearing.

Burden of proof

Once the defendant shows the claim is based on protected conduct, the
plaintiff must defeat the motion by establishing that an exemption applies,
or that they have a prima facie case for every essential element of the
claim, or by beating the defendant's showing under the same substantive
standards used for a Rule 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss or, where the evidence
warrants it, a Rule 56 summary-judgment motion. This is a stricter
"can-you-actually-win" filter than an ordinary motion to dismiss, but it
isn't phrased as a bare "probability of prevailing" test like California's.

Attorney's fees

A prevailing movant is entitled to mandatory attorney's fees, court costs,
and other litigation expenses — and the statute specifically forbids courts
from denying or reducing that award because the movant's lawyer took the
case pro bono or on contingency. A responding party who beats the motion
gets reciprocal mandatory fees only if the court separately finds the motion
itself was "frivolous conduct" under Ohio's frivolous-conduct statute, § 2323.51.

Right to appeal

A denial of the motion is treated as a final, appealable order, and the
moving party gets an interlocutory right of appeal — the notice of appeal is
due within 30 days of the order. The Act doesn't need a matching provision
for a grant of the motion, since dismissing the claim with prejudice is
already a final judgment appealable in the ordinary course.

Exemptions

Four categories fall outside the Act entirely: legal actions against a
governmental unit or its employee or agent acting in an official capacity;
enforcement actions a governmental unit brings to protect against an
imminent threat to public health or safety; actions against someone
primarily in the business of selling or leasing goods or services, if the
claim arises from a communication related to that sale or lease; and
survivorship claims or bodily-injury/wrongful-death actions (including
statements made about them).

What trips people up

This is a "substantive immunity from suit," not just a defense to
liability. The statute says so explicitly (§ 2747.01(E)) — a distinction
Ohio courts are likely to lean on when deciding how aggressively to apply
the Act, since it signals the legislature wanted early, decisive dismissals,
not just a shield against an eventual judgment.

The 60-day filing clock and the 60-day hearing clock are two different
deadlines. Missing the 60 days to file the motion after service is fatal
absent good cause; the second 60 days (for the court to hold a hearing)
runs from filing, not from service, and can itself be pushed if the court
allows limited discovery first.

Fee-shifting against you isn't automatic just because you lost the
motion. The responding party only gets fees if the court separately finds
your motion was "frivolous conduct" as defined by a different statute
(§ 2323.51) — losing on the merits alone doesn't trigger that.

Common questions

Does filing the motion stop the whole case, or just discovery? The
whole case. Unlike some states that only pause discovery, Ohio's stay covers
"all other proceedings," including any pending hearing or motion, not just
discovery requests.

Can I use this for a bad online review I wrote? Possibly, if the review
concerns a matter of public concern and doesn't fall into the
commercial-speech exemption for people primarily in the business of selling
or leasing the goods or services being reviewed.

What if I lose the motion — do I have to pay the other side's fees?
Only if the court separately finds your motion was frivolous conduct under
§ 2323.51. An ordinary loss on the merits doesn't by itself create a fee
obligation.

Statutes and sources

• Ohio Rev. Code § 2747.01 — "(B) Except as provided in division (C) of
  this section, this chapter applies to a cause of action asserted in a
  civil action against a person based on any of the following: (1) The
  person's communication in a legislative, executive, judicial,
  administrative, or other governmental proceeding; (2) The person's
  communication on an issue under consideration or review in a legislative,
  executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding; (3)
  The person's exercise of the right of freedom of speech and of the press,
  the right to assemble and petition, and the right of association,
  guaranteed by the United States Constitution or the Ohio Constitution, on
  a matter of public concern. (C) This chapter does not apply to any of the
  following: (1) A legal action against a governmental unit or an employee
  or agent of the governmental unit who was acting or purporting to act in
  an official capacity; (2) An enforcement action that is brought in the
  name of a governmental unit to protect against an imminent threat to
  public health or safety; (3) A legal action brought against a person
  primarily engaged in the business of selling or leasing goods or
  services, if the cause of action arises out of communication related to
  the person's sale or lease of the goods or services; (4) A survivorship
  claim or a legal action seeking recovery for bodily injury or wrongful
  death, or statements made regarding that claim or legal action. ... (E)
  The general assembly, in enacting this chapter, intends to confer
  substantive immunity from suit, and not merely immunity from liability,
  for any cause of action described in division (B) of this section."
  Source: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2747.01
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Ohio Rev. Code § 2747.02 — "Not later than sixty days after a party is
  served with a complaint, cross-claim, counterclaim, third-party claim, or
  other pleading that asserts a cause of action to which this chapter
  applies, the party may file a motion for expedited relief to dismiss the
  civil action or claim. The court may extend the sixty-day period to file
  the motion for expedited relief for good cause shown." Source:
  https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2747.02 (accessed
  2026-07-05).
• Ohio Rev. Code § 2747.03 — "(A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in
  this section, if a motion for expedited relief is filed under section
  2747.02 of the Revised Code, the court shall stay all other proceedings in
  the action between the moving party and responding party, including
  discovery and any other pending hearing or motion." Source:
  https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2747.03 (accessed
  2026-07-05).
• Ohio Rev. Code § 2747.04 — "(A)(1) The court shall conduct a hearing
  not later than sixty days after the filing of a motion for expedited
  relief... (C) In ruling on the motion for expedited relief, the court
  shall dismiss with prejudice a cause of action, or part of a cause of
  action, if all of the following apply: (1) The moving party establishes
  that the cause of action is based on a communication or action described
  in division (B) of section 2747.01... (2) The responding party fails to
  establish that this chapter does not apply to the cause of action due to
  an exception in division (C) of section 2747.01... (3) Either the
  responding party fails to establish a prima-facie case for each essential
  element of the cause of action or the moving party establishes one of the
  following: (a) The responding party failed to state a cause of action
  upon which relief can be granted. (b) There is no genuine issue as to any
  material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of
  law..." Source: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2747.04
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Ohio Rev. Code § 2747.05 — "(A) If the court grants a motion for
  expedited relief... the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees,
  court costs, and other reasonable litigation expenses to the moving
  party. The court shall not fail to award, or reduce an award of,
  attorney's fees, court costs, and other reasonable litigation expenses
  under this division on the grounds that the representation of the moving
  party was undertaken on a pro bono or contingent basis. (B) If the court
  denies a motion for expedited relief... and finds that the motion was
  frivolous conduct as defined in section 2323.51... the court... shall
  award to the responding party reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, and
  other reasonable litigation expenses... (C) If the court denies a motion
  for expedited relief... the denial is a final order under section
  2505.02... and the moving party has an interlocutory right of appeal under
  that section. The appeal must be filed within thirty days after entry of
  the order." Source: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2747.05
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Ohio Rev. Code § 2747.06 — "(A) Sections 2747.01 to 2747.06 of the
  Revised Code apply to a civil action filed or any claim asserted in a
  civil action on or after the effective date of this section. (B) A court
  shall broadly construe and apply sections 2747.01 to 2747.06 of the
  Revised Code to protect the exercise of the right of freedom of speech and
  of the press, the right to assemble and petition, and the right of
  association, guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Ohio
  Constitution." Source:
  https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2747.06 (accessed
  2026-07-05).